May 19, 2008

I am a big fan of things that have more than one function. Mostly because they normally give you more room (they take less space with their "all in one" approach), but also because they are the more basic expression of creativity.

What is creativity if not the ability to combine things in a way that no one has done before?

Now, extremely pragmatists tend to combine in a rough way just "adding" instead of combining and then, even if the combination is good IN THEORY, it may not be desirable because of the final look. So, something to have in mind is that creativity is not just about combining two elements but about combining them in a harmonious way.

This is a good example. Called the "Antigravity Chandelier" is a beautiful piece of furniture that as you can see works looks as a chandelier but is at the same time a coat stand.

I am not really sure if I would like to hang a coat from it, just because you want the lights to be seen (I assume those are cold lights anyway) but as you can see in the picture you can hang other things, like umbrellas or caps and have a really unique piece for that.

The designer behind this idea, is Jun Tase from Japan, and at his site you can see more stuff that was designed to have multiple functions, from a chair that can be transformed into a table, to a magazine rack that is also a stool and can even play as a table too!

In an ironic twist, if you read the name and last name of the designer as one word (Juntase) in Spanish that would mean: "attach, combine, unite"...that is exactly what he does!